1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention relate to a display panel, and more particularly, a display panel assembly and method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, technological progress has developed information processing devices that can process a large amount of data within a short period of time. Accordingly, display devices capable of displaying such data as visual images has also rapidly progressed. The display devices, which display the quickly processed data as an image, are classified into analog display devices and digital display devices. A cathode ray tube (CRT) type display device is representative of an analog display devices. A liquid crystal display (LCD) device, an organic electroluminescent (EL) display device and a plasma display panel (PDP) are representative of digital display devices. Image generation through an analog display device, such as a CRT type display device has been widely used because of natural color rendering as well as a wide viewing angle. On the other hand, the digital display device are becoming more widely used because of their thin profile and light weight.
The digital display device, such as an LCD device, commonly includes a pair of substrates, display elements and a sealing member. The pair of substrates face each other with the display elements disposed between the pair of substrates. The sealing member seals the display elements within the pair of substrates as well as bonds the substrates together. More particularly, the sealing member isolates the display elements of the digital display devices from an external environment. Thus, if the sealing member is damaged, the digital display devices may fail to display an image.
The sealing member can contain a thermosetting material cured by an applied heat. However, if the sealing member contains a thermosetting material, the display elements of the display device may be damaged while the sealing member is cured due to the outgases from the curing sealing member. Alternatively, the sealing member can contain a photocurable material such that the sealing member can contain an ultraviolet-curable material cured by ultra violet. However, if the sealing member is cured using light, such as ultraviolet light, the display elements of the digital display device may be damaged due reactivity with ultraviolet light.
To overcome the aforementioned drawbacks, the related art employs a method of using a mask to radiate ultraviolet light only onto the sealing member region to cure the sealing member material. However, in recent years, as the length of substrates used for manufacturing the digital display devices increases to 2,000 mm, manufacturing of a mask to selectively expose the sealing member region becomes more difficult. Further, the process of depositing the sealing member material, aligning the mask, curing the sealing member and then removing the mask is a complicated and takes a long period of time.